By Ijeoma Okigbo
Abuja – Sylvester Emmanuel , Nigeria’s number two-ranked tennis player who lost 3-6, 4-6 to Canadian Brayden Schnur on Wednesday, said experience kept the North American ahead of him.
Emmanuel however had qualified for the Round of 16 after beating US-based Aron Pierce on Tuesday in the ongoing second edition of Dayak Tennis Championship.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Emmanuel acknowledged that his opponent preformed better.
“ The Canadian player was better and his experience enables him to unleash his skills and didn’t give me chance to do what I needed to do.
“He played well and his experience was well above mine, which kept him ahead of me.
“This is a process anyway. You learn from each game and you move on,” he said.
Schnur, who was in Nigeria for the first time and had to change his shirt twice in the match, said the hot weather did not affect his style of play.
“I changed my shirt because the weather is hot and I was sweating, though I ensured that the weather did not distract me.
“But I am getting used to the weather and will take the game one at a time as I look forward to playing in the quarter-finals,” he said.
NAN reports that Schnur had won the Tombim Abuja Open last weekend and was hopeful of moving further.
NAN reports that the Dayak tournament is an International Tennis Federation event where players can garner Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) points.
The event which has over 50 players with 25,000 dollars up for grabs began on Sunday and will end on Saturday.
